Update 17.11.2011: Details of our end of year meeting, Tuesday 6th December, 2011, are available on the  News and Events page!

Welcome to the website of the Irish Environmental law Association.

This website offers Association members a key source of  information on environmental and planning law. Members can login to the Member’s Section at the bottom-right of the page, where copies of written papers and podcasts of all presentations delivered to members, are available. Membership is comprised of legal practitioners, industry/NGO members, state bodies, academic professionals and persons generally interested in the law as it relates to the environment and the planning system in Ireland.

The Association holds quarterly meetings, at which a guest speaker addresses matters of topical importance to members. For example, recent presentations to the association have included the following:

• Conor Linehan (Partner, Environment and Planning, Willam Fry) on Environmental Liability and Insolvency
• Luàn O’Braonàin SC, on similarities and differences between the HSA and EPA investigations on prosecutions, and how to handle both
• Garrett Simons SC, on the Planning and Development (Amendment) Act, 2010
• Dr. Ken Macken of the EPA, on the impact of new directive revising and extending the Emissions Trading Scheme
• Emily O’Reilly, the Ombudsman and Information Commissioner, on access to information on the environment
• Richard Gordon QC, on the topic of “EU Environmental Public Law”

Additionally, there are further short presentations on each of the following key topics for the planning and environmental law practitioner:

• Irish Legislative Developments since the last meeting
• European law developments, including recent ECJ decisions, legislative developments, and news from the Council of Ministers (Environment)
• Recent decisions of the Superior Courts of Ireland relating to environmental and planning law

Association meetings are enlivened by healthy debate between members and the speakers on the topical matters of discussion and are therefore a very useful source of information for those interested in environmental law, particularly for practitioners, academics and those representing interest groups. Meetings are typically held in the Law School of Trinity College Dublin, although the location varies from time to time. Attendance qualifies for CPD points.

New members are welcome at any time, please click here for information on how to join the IELA.